We are sad to report that Miguel Rodríguez Mendoza has passed away. Jorge Castro of the WTO prepared the following note of remembrance:
Miguel Rodríguez Mendoza
(Cumaná, Venezuela, 28 March 1948 – Geneva, Switzerland, 25 April 2021)
Miguel Rodríguez had a distinguished career in international trade. He was Venezuela's Presidential Envoy and head of the team that negotiated Venezuela's accession to the GATT in 1990. He went on to be Venezuela's trade minister between 1991 and 1994. Rodríguez played a leading role in the modernization of the Andean Community and in the negotiation of the G3 free trade area agreement between Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Between 1995 and 1998, he was head of the Trade Unit at the Organization of American States, during the negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas. He was WTO Deputy Director General under DG Mike Moore from 1999 to 2002, playing an influential role in negotiations leading to the Doha Ministerial Conference. After leaving the WTO, he provided trade advice to several institutions such as the Interamerican Development Bank and the Andean Development Corporation. He was also frequently called to assist in WTO dispute settlement, where he chaired six panels and was a member of three others.
Miguel Rodríguez was a lawyer by training. He completed a masters in economic development from the University of Manchester and a doctorate in political science from Paris's Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, with a thesis on the Italian political thinker Antonio Gramsci. His doctoral research took him to Italy in the seventies, where he developed a love for the country. He recently lived for long periods in Lucca and Pietrasanta, before settling back in Geneva.
He enjoyed teaching courses, including at the University of Barcelona and at Georgetown University. His enthusiasm for trade policy was infectious, and he loved mentoring and supporting new generations of trade officials.
Next to trade, Miguel had a big passion for Italian culture, history and politics, and for cinema. He is survived by his wife, Josefina, and by his two children, Gabriela and Miguel Ignacio, whom he loved dearly.
